This is a POWERFUL book. A good, quick read from some of our premier modern-day American historians. This collection of essays gives us an inside look at most of the presidencies of the second half of the 20th century. A must read for any history buff.

• Edmund Morris - Last fall, Morris published the controversial biography Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan. His book The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt earned him a Pulitzer Prize.

• Ben Bradlee - Author of That Special Grace, a tribute to John F. Kennedy, Bradlee is a vice president at the Washington Post. He previously was the executive editor at the Post who oversaw reporting of the Watergate scandal.

• David Maraniss - A reporter at the Washington Post since 1977, Maraniss earned a Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for his coverage of Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign. He subsequently wrote the Clinton biography, First in his Class. His latest book is When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi.

The "Power and the Presidency" series was created on behalf of the Montgomery Endowment by alumnus Robert A. Wilson of Dallas, a communications consultant who put together a similar series, "Character Above All" (dealing with the impact of character on presidential leadership) in 1994 at the University of Texas at Austin.

These well written essays provide vivid glimpses of varying Presidential personalities, with thoughtful discussion of individual strengths and weaknesses. To me, especially in an election year where character is a major issue, it was an enthralling read, with highlights of qualities such as "Reagan's voice, which was a large part of Reagan's power..." or the speaking style of TR, with plosive P sounds, which "would pop with Gatling-gun force. The effect of his oratory was to bury every word in the psyche of his listeners." or the political genius exhibited by FDR who talked "at a level at which very few people could follow him and understand what he was really saying" that FDR also recognized in a young congressmen, LBJ, as "he saw Johnson understood _everything_ he was talking about." I enjoyed reading these examples of behavior and the illuminating contrasts such as: "It is hard to imagine two more different men than Dwight Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy..." or "despite the major differences in their temperaments--indeed, I would argue, because of these differences--Eleanor and Franklin forged their historic partnership..." I would recommend to readers the book "Presidential Temperament" by Choiniere and Keirsey, another well researched volume which gives an explanation of "how each President's temperament inevitably expressed itself in his behavior, both in office and in his personal life."

This book is not only looks into the hoaxes by the psyche of the hoaxsters. Why would they do it? What were their motivations? What do they have in common. Equally interesting is the individual who actually accomplished his exploration but was accused of pulling a hoax. He had all the evidence to prove his claim but would not use it! Why? His psyche had common ground with hoaxsters. To find out more you will have to read the book. It is an interesting read.

The problem with Dave Roberts is that he has established himself in a particular genre - i.e. intense, concise and slightly acerbic adventure writing. As a result, you tend to expect that approach from all his writing, which isn't really fair, but there you have it.

In Great Exploration Hoaxes, Roberts steps outside his usual format to do some research. I'm not really surprised. Comments in the introductions to his previous collections make it clear he is intrigued by the workings of the human psyche as well as the thrill of high risk adventure. However, this book is definitely a departure, and reads like a series of well-written research papers - which I guess, in essence, they are.

There is nothing wrong with Great Exploration Hoaxes. It is a good read and I recommend it, especially if you are interested in what history says versus what actually happened. The problem lies with Robets tackling historical data. It is hard to bring the dead back to life, especially when their writing is not available for comment. For example, Roberts does a fine job of getting the reader interested in John Cabot, but must rely on the work of Cabot's contemporaries and other researchers to substantiate his theories.

Roberts is at his best when he is relating the story and not supporting his hypothesis with data. But since he is trying to debunk some old myths, he naturally has to support his statements. It is an uneasy alliance that works, but is not the usual Roberts fare.

I recommend the book, but will be looking forward to Roberts' next tale of his own wanderings and resulting insights.

The author presents an interesting collection of well documented essays (and a few historical photographs) that intrigue and educate the reader about some of the greatest adventurer and discovery hoaxes over the centuries. His most interesting inquiry is saved for the reader to ponder. "How many claimed discoveries and adventures that we unquestionably and faithfully accept as true were also mere fantasy?" Did Hannibal really cross the Alps? Was it Tenzig Norgay first to summit on Everest or was it Hillary? If Neil Armstrong was the first man on the moon, who took the famous picture of him descending from the space capsule planting a foot firmly onto Moon soil? This book can get you thinking.

The book is easy to read and takes the reader through the various stages of stroke recovery - the pain, the anger, the depression, the frustration, the acceptance and the gradual, very gradual road to recovery. Covering the pertinent and the practical aspects of strokes the book is amazingly written in a light hearted, and even entertaining style, for such a serious subject. It's easy to pick out relevant sections at different stages of recovery. I can highly recommend this book to both stroke sufferers but especially to their nearest and dearest as a way to try to understand and help the sufferer. There is hope - even when, at first, everything appears desperate. Read, enjoy and recover.

This book is a solid introduction to the work of David Cronenberg, which follows his career up until Naked Lunch.
For a much better analysis of his work, refer to "Cronenberg on Cronenberg" ed. Chris Rodley!

My Mississippi by Willie Morris is the quintessential guide to the Magnolia State, brilliant authors, beautiful landscapes, warts and all. Morris covers every aspect of Mississippi, its people, culture, history, landmarks, and leaders, in his own inimitable way. No one turns a phrase better than the late Morris, and this, his final effort, creates no exception to that rule. The tone is conversational, almost as if you're listening to the author holding court, as he was wont to do, at one of his favorite Jackson restaurants. It's all here--the Civil War, civil rights struggles, the old 18th Century Natchez District, the state's incomparable literary heritage, the pathetic public school system, Ole Miss football, beauty pagents, catfish farms, the histrionic Delta. All beautifully and lovingly described by Morris. The only disappointments are the photographs, which are frequently amateurish and, unlike the prose, seem oddly disconnected from their subject-- down home Mississippi. Even so, this is a great book.

Old Tom Morris lived to the age of eighty-seven, witnessing, and being a major part of, the development of a sport which is now played all over the world (and once on the moon). It is therefore extraordinary that this seems to be the only book dedicated to his life; or even to this time in golf's history. Prior to this publication, the exceptional characters of the time - Old Tom Morris, Willie Park, Allan Robertson, Young Tom Morris - have merited only the occasional paragraph in golfing encyclopedia.

Compiled as an actor's stage prop - from sources including the golfer's actual book of cuttings - it has the feel of a genuine, beautifully bound scrapbook: its not-quite chronological order, happy-accident compilation seems the sort of thing someone would put together in their spare time. This adds enormously to the book's appeal - starkly setting out a man's life in cuttings and photographs, with no explanatory notes, proves very moving.

Though this fresh approach to biography allows the reader to interpret material free of the bias normally brought by the author, it also means it is free of any correction: the original authors of the clippings would, no doubt, have their own agenda, as would the person collecting the material. Another disadvantage of this format is that it lacks a social context: sporting event takes precedence, leaving the world around relatively unimportant (reading 'A Century of the Scottish People 1830-1950' T C Smout, would help the reader fill this gap). This book gives the initial impression that the golfing professional was a rich man of high status, which runs contrary to other sources which suggest that he was not welcome within clubhouses, and that much of his income was reliant on club and ball making; his wealthy backers being the main benificiaries of his golfing talent.

These points aside, the book contains a huge amount of information which will keep anyone interested in history and/or golf fascinated for years. I would suggest you find a comfortable chair, pour a generous glass of whisky (28 year old Springbank as a preference), open a page of this book at random and look back one hundred and fifty years at the pioneers who look exactly like their contemporaries in the wild west, except rifles are replaced by golf clubs.

This is a pretty good book. It moves along like the best stuff David Drake has written, but also has a believable story line, an attempt at credible female characters and a serious attempt at alien Aliens.

It describes First Contact with first one Alien species and then another, and the war between these two. Assumes the human species has gotten to the moon but is still dominated by the face-off between US and USSR.

NB: 0-441-79817-9 is the Ace paperback

This was a good book, I recomend it. If you like thrillers and mysteries this is a good book.